Air-conditioned canopy



March 1, 1949. E. CQDIXON ETAL 2,463,090

AIR CONDITIONED CANOPY Filed May 2, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR. rownpo c. DIXON 1 BY w/zu/m I. CHILTON HTTORNEVJ March 1, 1949. 5C, DlXON ET AL 2,463,090

AIR CONDITIONED CANOPY Filed May 2, '1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. IDWHRD C. DIXON y WILL/HM E. CHILTON ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 1, 1949 AIR-" GONDITIGNED. CANOPY:

Edward 0. Dixon, Rocky Riveraand' William E.

Chilton, Lakewood, Ohio, assignors to Continentakliospital' Service, Inc., Lakewood, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio pp icati n M r-2, 1945,. SeriaL o-. 1,558 1 1 Claim; (01. 62-140) This invention relates to therapeuticapparatus and, more .particular131, to therapeutic apparatus of the kind. inwhich, air is..circulated througha tent or hoodby a conditioning unit embodyin means for. removing moisture, heat. carbondioxide. nd us torother foreign. particles from the air.

The present, invention, provides, improved therar pe apparatus of this ara t r n i h e excess moisture is removed. from. the circulating air in a more efiectiveand satisfactory manner than has. been. accomplished. heretofore and whichinvolvesthe use of aheat-exchanger of a constructionsuch that the moisture cq i denses ontiae heat-exchanger and "clings thereto as. a mass or-body oiliquid, having numerous passages throughwhich the air; flowssoas to produce the effect of washing andcleansing the air while it is being cooled Another v object of this invention is to. provide therapeutic apparatus, oi the character mentioneiinwhiflh the heat-exchanger of the cont nin u t has numero s metal ns. w ic are spaced apart adistance such that thedrops of liquid. which; formon the ,fins will bridge across thetspaces. between, adjacent fins so. as to. cooperate. Witlrthe fins. in defining numerous, irregular passages throughwhich, the air travels,

Other objects and advantages of the invention willbe apparent. from the following detailed descriptiontwhen.taken inflconjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings in which;

Fig. 1 isaperspective view showing therapeutic pp us. embod in th p esent ven n-U Fig. 2.is ,a partial plan ,view of the air conditioning unit ,of .theapparatus and showing the through the. conditioning u'niton line 3 -3 of;

Fig.v 2.

Fig, 4 is a .detail section l View further illustrating the construction ofth'e, heat-exchanger oi the conditioning unit.

Fig. 5 is another detail sectional view. of the heatrexchanger, the View being somewhat diagrammatic in form, and. showing the manner in which the drops of condensed moisture. bridge the spaces between the adjacent fins of; the heatexchanger .and defineirregular air passages, and

Fig.1 6f,is .apartialtransverse sectionalview taken on line .6..& of Fig. 2 and showing the. hape f ever and tuberculosis.

As shown in Fig, 1 the therapeutic apparatus of the present invention comprises, in general, a tent or hood lflgand an air conditioning unit H having air inlet and discharge conduits I2 and I3 connectingthe unit with the tent, for the circulation ofair throughthe latter.; The tent I 0;-may be formed of suitable sheet material, preferably, atransparent sheet material; and may beof a size and, shape toenclose or partially enclose a hospital bed l 5 ,-which is adapted toreceive a patient, It to be treated. The tent may be supported by a suitable bracket orrack IT so as to define a chamber or enclosure adjacent the head of the patient and which contains air to be "breathedby the latter.

Therapeutic apparatus of this general character has been in use heretofore for the treatment of ,various. diseases or abnormal conditions such as pneumonia; cardiac conditions, asthma, hay In treatments of" this kind itis desirable to remove excess heat, humidity, carbon dioxide and bacteria from the. air being circulated through: the tent aswellasdust, lint and other foreign particles. It is also desirable to be able to introduce oxygen, or some other treating agent, intothe air beingcirculated. For reasons hereinafter explained, the present apparatus accomplishes these purposes in amore effi; cient and satisfactory manner than anyother apparatus of this type whichhas come to our attention.-

The air conditioning unit ll of our improved apparatus is further illustrated in Figs, 2 and} and; as shown therein, comprises a cabinet lil having an air conditioning chamber 20 therein.

thermal insulating material. 25; A partitiqn 26 extending across the cham ber 2,0 dividesthe same intoaheat-exchange.compartment Zllcand a w r onmar m ntfiiba Th s pa titienis rovided with air openings 21 and 28 asshown in Fig, (S'andithje latter of which openings con.- meets the compartment 20 a with the compartment 2%:

A blower 30, preferably of the centrifugal type, is located intheblower compartment 29b. and

has a discharge nozzle? I disposedso as to deliver air into .the heat exchange compartment 28a through the opening 2'loi1the partition. 26.; A heat exchange unit 32, to. be,described in. detail hereinafter, is; located in the compartmentita so that the air dischargedinto this compartment by the blower flows across and through this unit. The opening 28 of the partition 26 permits the air which is delivered into the compartment 20a by the blower to return to the blower compartment 20b. Because of the location of the openings 21 and 28, the air delivered by the blower 30 first travels in one direction though that portion or section of the heat-exchanger 32 which is located directly opposite the blower discharge 3| and then reverses its direction and travels back through the adjacent section of the heat-exchanger and passes into the blower compartment through the opening 28.

As shown in the drawings the lower end of the air delivery conduit I3 is connected with the .blower compartment 20b and receives therefrom the air which has been forced through the compartment 20a and the heat-exchanger 32 by the blower. In passing through the heat-exchanger 32 the air is cooled, washed and purified as will be further explained hereinafter and the action of the blower causes this conditioned air to be delivered into the tent l through the delivery conduit l 3 and the used air to be withdrawn from the tent through the return conduit I4. The lowerend of the return conduit l4 extends into theblower compartment and is connected with the inlet of the blower 30 by the elbow fitting 33. The blower 30 is driven by a suitable power device,

such as an electric motor 34 which operates continuously' while the apparatus is in operation so as to maintain a desired continuous circulation of the air through the tent and through the chamber 20 of the air conditioning unit H.

In the construction above described it will be noted that the blower30 is located inside the heat-insulated chamber 20 while the electric motor 34, with which the blower is direct-connected, is located outside the chamber and has its shaft extending through one of the walls thereof. This arrangement is important because the heat produced by the electric motor will be kept entirely outside the chamber 20 and this will decrease the amount of heat required to be absorbed by the heat exchanger 32.

. For the purpose of supplying oxygen or other treating agent to the air being circulated, a suitable tubular connection or nipple 35 can be provided on the air delivery conduit l3 for discharging the treating agent into the air stream. The

nipple 35 can be connected with a bottle or tank (not shown) containing a supply of the treating material, as by means of the conduit 36.

' .Reverting now to the heat-exchanger 32 it will be seen from the drawings that this unit comprises a pipe coil 38 having supply and reportion of the condensed moisture is temporarily retained in the spaces 42 of the heat-exchanger for washing and purifying the air but as additional moisture condenses on the fins 4| some of the previously condensed moisture drips from the lower portion of the heat-exchanger 32 onto the bottom of the chamber 20 from which it is Zlscharged through a suitable drain connection We have discovered that by constructing the heat-exchanger 32 with the fins 4| spaced apart a distance of approximately of an inch, the drops44 will bridge or span the spaces 42 between the pairs of adjacent fins. As indicated in Fig. 5, the drops 44 will occur at various points spaced over the surfaces of the fins and, as these drops grow in size due to the condensation of additional moisture, the drops on adjacent fins will become joined together. At various other points individual drops 44 on one fin will increase in size, as additional moisture condenses, and will ultimately span the space between adjacent fins, thus becoming attached to both fins and suspended therebetween. These drops 44 of liquid clinging to the fins 4| and spanning the spaces 42 therebetween, divide the space between each pair of fins into numerous irregular openings or circuitous air passages 46 so as to form a water screen through which the air being circulated by the blower 30 must pass.

During the operation of the apparatus the heatexchange unit 32 thus becomes charged or saturated with a mass or body of liquid having the above mentioned numerous irregular and circuitous air passages 46 therethrough. It will be understood of course that the drops 44 will travel down the fins 4| as the drops increase in size and that the shape and location of the air passages 46 will thus be continuously in a state of change. Although excess liquid drips from the bottom of the heat-exchange unit 32, as mentioned above, such liquid will be replaced on the fins by the formation of additional drops so that the porous or foraminous body of liquid will be maintained in the unit while the apparatus is in operation and while the air being circulated contains excess moisture. It will also be understood that the number and area of the fins 4| will be such, in relation to the volume of air being circulated by the blower 30, that the above mentioned porous mass of liquid or water screen will be maintained in the heat exchange unit 32.

The air being circulated by the blower 30 flows through the numerous irregular passages 46 of the porous mass of liquid or water screen and during this passage the air is cooled, washed and turn connections 39 and 40 and a relatively large 7 number of spaced substantially parallel metal plates or fins 4| which are metallically connected to the pipe coil with portions of the coil extending through the plates at substantially right angles thereto. The fins 4| with their intervening spaces 42 define a substantially rectangular or cube shaped foraminous block or body through which the air to be conditioned is circulated by the blower 30. The fins 4| serve as heat conducting elements and also as condensation surfaces. In serving as heat conducting elements the fins conduct heat from the air being circulated to a cooling medium or refrigerant which is being circulated through the pipe coil 38. As condensation surfaces, the fins provide for the condensation of excess moisture from the air being circulated, the

condensed moisture taking the form of drops 44 of liquid which cling to the fins. A substantial cleansed or purified so that when it is returned to the tent l0 through the delivery conduit l3 it will be in a cool, clean and Wholesome condition. During this passage of air through the porous mass of liquid excess carbon dioxide will be absorbed by the liquid and particles of dust or lint will be separatedfrom the air by the washing effect of the liquid.

We have stated above that the spacing for the fins or the heat-exchange unit 32 is to be approximately of an inch and this is regarded as a critical Value of extreme importance because the formation of the irregular air passages 46 is dependent upon the drops of liquid 44 spanning or bridging the spaces between the pairs of adjacent fins. Some 'tolerance or variation is permissible in the above mentioned spacing of a; of an inch for the fins but if this spacing is increased or decreased by more than $4; of an inch it will be either too great or too small for the proper formation of the drops and the bridging of the intervening spaces to produce the irregular air passages 46.

The cooling medium in the pipe coil 38 of the heat-exchange unit 32 may be supplied thereto by a conventional motor-driven compressor unit 48 of the kind usually embodied in refrigerating and air conditioning apparatus.

From the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings it will now be readily understood that the present invention provides an improved therapeutic air conditioner in which the air being circulated through a tent or hood is cooled, washed and purified in a more efiicient and satisfactory manner than has heretofore been possible in apparatus of this kind, This cleansing and purification of the air is, in effect, a sterilization thereof because bacteria is removed by the water screen and the danger of cross infection is reduced.

While We have illustrated and described our therapeutic air conditioning apparatus in more or less detail it will be understood, of course, that we do not wish to be correspondingly limited but regard our invention as including all changes and modifications coming within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

Air conditioning apparatus of the character tion to the volumetric flow of said air such that liquid condensing from said air clings to the fins in a substantial amount and forms a perforate mass through which said air can flow in numerous small streams, said partition having two openings therein which are located substantially opposite two adjacent sections of said heat-exchanger such that said sections constitute two passes for the air being circulated, means for producing a circulation of air through said canopy and air conditioning chamber comprising an electric driving motor having a shaft extending through one of said walls and a fan direct-connected to said shaft, said motor being located outside of said chamber and said fan being located inside of the other of said compartments, said fan having a delivery nozzle disposed so as to discharge air through one of the openings of said partition and cause such air to traverse said passes in succession and then flow through the other opening of the partition into said other compartment, an air delivery conduit connecting said other compartment with said canopy for delivering the conditioned air to the latter, and a return conduit leading from said canopy to said unit and having a conduit portion extending through said other compartment and connected with the air intake of said fan.

EDWARD C. DIXON. WILLIAM E. CHILTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,099,665 Smith Nov. 16, 1937 2,105,108 Crosley Jan. 11, 1938 2,107,400 Stabbal Feb. 8, 1938 2,159,741 Kettering May 23, 1939 

